Macleay's mustached bat (''Pteronotus macleayii'') is a species of

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most ...

in the family

Mormoopidae The family Mormoopidae contains bats known generally as mustached bats, ghost-faced bats, and naked-backed bats. They are found in the Americas from the Southwestern United States to Southeastern Brazil. They are distinguished by the presenc ...

. It is found in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

, and is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

. The species is named for

William Sharp Macleay William Sharp Macleay or McLeay (21 July 1792 – 26 January 1865) was a British civil servant and entomologist. He was a prominent promoter of the Quinarian system of classification. After graduating, he worked for the British embassy in Par ...

, who collected the

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes th ...

Description

Macleay's mustached bat is a small bat, with an average body length of and a tail long. Fully-grown adults weigh , with males being slightly larger than females. The body is covered by greyish-brown to orange-brown fur, fading to near-white on the undersides. The head is relatively flat with a slightly upturned snout. The ears are narrow and pointed, with serrated outer edges near the tips, and a long, slightly flattened tragus. The wings have an aspect ratio of 7.6 and a

wing loading In aerodynamics, wing loading is the total mass of an aircraft or flying animal divided by the area of its wing. The stalling speed of an aircraft in straight, level flight is partly determined by its wing loading. An aircraft or animal with a ...

of 4.6 N/m², suitable for agile flying in cluttered environments, such as forests. The encephalisation quotient of the species has been calculated at 0.85.

Distribution and habitat

Macleay's mustached bats are widespread on

and

, and are found wherever there are suitable caves. There are two recognised subspecies: * ''Pteronotus macleayii macleayii'' – Cuba, Isla de la Juventud * ''Pteronotus macleayii griseus'' – Jamaica

Biology and behaviour

Macleay's mustached bats are gregarious and nocturnal, with colonies of several thousand individuals spending the day roosting in deep and humid cave systems. They share the caves with many other local bat species, although generally clustering with members of their own species. They leave the caves shortly after sunset, and spend the night feeding on insects, primarily

flies Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced m ...

and

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

s. The echolocation calls of the bats are short and narrowband, with a dominant frequency of 70–80 kHz. Breeding begins in March, and results in the birth of a single young between June and July.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q936662 Pteronotus Mammals described in 1839 Taxa named by John Edward Gray Taxonomy articles created by Polbot